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Sticker shock in Fitchburg

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
06/16/2013 07:01:00 AM EDT

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD
This Ford Crown Victoria belonging to the City of Fitchburg has a valid inspection sticker, but previously didn't, according to Building Commissioner Robert Lanciani.

FITCHBURG -- For most law-abiding citizens, a car inspection is an annual task that must be undertaken so they may continue to drive their vehicles legally.

Those who receive a rejection sticker and fail to make repairs -- or those who neglect to have their vehicle inspected at all -- face the prospect of receiving fines and higher insurance rates.

But in Fitchburg, some city employees were allowed to drive city-owned vehicles for as long as three years without a valid inspection sticker.

When Building Commissioner Robert Lanciani went before the City Council recently for his budget session for fiscal 2014, councilors were shocked to hear that some inspectors had been driving vehicles that could not pass inspection.

"I can't imagine the faces of the public watching this, and they hear people say that we're driving cars that wouldn't pass inspection," said Councilor Marcus DiNatale, chairman of the Finance Committee.

He called the situation "embarrassing."

"We should never get into any situation where we're putting the health and well-being of our city employees in jeopardy by having them drive vehicles that are not safe and can't pass inspection," said Councilor Dean Tran, chairman of the City Property Committee.

"Last week, we had four of our vehicles having repairs done," Lanciani told councilors. "One of them the personnel felt was too dangerous to drive. Two would not meet the state minimum requirements to get inspection stickers.

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Lanciani said the problems have been mitigated, but acknowledged the cars were driven for significant amounts of time before being repaired or replaced.

A 1998 Ford Explorer, eventually taken off the road because it needed a new engine and transmission and had holes in its rocker panels, could not pass inspection for three years, he said. A Ford Taurus of similar age could not pass inspection for about two years, Lanciani said. He said the vehicles were driven primarily by Building Inspector Bentley Herget.

He said both vehicles have since been traded back to the Police Department, which traded them in for a recent new-vehicle purchase, which Deputy Police Chief Philip Kearns verified. The Police Department handed down a 2001 Ford Taurus as a replacement.

Kearns said it has been the norm for the Police Department to hand down to other city departments older vehicles that are "still serviceable but not suited to the rigors of police work," and that is how the Building Department has obtained its vehicles.

A 1999 Ford Crown Victoria, used primarily by Building Inspector and Facilities Director John Moran, could not pass inspection for less than a year, Lanciani said, until it received necessary front-end work and engine work to pass the emissions test.

A bucket truck, used by Wire Inspector Harry Parviainen to work on lights, also could not pass inspection for a few months. But it sat unused at the Department of Public Works yard during that time because Parviainen refused to operate it until it passed, Lanciani said.

He said another vehicle, a Chevrolet Blazer driven by Plumbing Inspector Wayne Little, is due for an inspection this month and will soon have related repairs.

Lanciani said it is up to employees who drive the vehicles to get them inspected, and they may go to a variety of local, state-authorized inspection centers to do so. When a vehicle is known to need repairs in order to pass inspection, it is most often brought to a trusted mechanic on Lunenburg Street, Lanciani said, who is asked to make whatever repairs are necessary and to get it inspected. If the cost of the repair is too great or exceeds the value of the vehicle, it is returned to the city without a rejection sicker, he said.

When it was known that a vehicle would not pass inspection, it was not brought in for one, Lanciani said.

Moran rebutted what Lanciani said, saying that to his knowledge, his Crown Victoria has had a current inspection sticker for the past year or so that he has been using it. He said perhaps the vehicle could not pass inspection at some point before then.

"I wouldn't drive a vehicle that I thought was unsafe," Moran said.

He shared with the Sentinel & Enterprise a series of inspection certificates for the vehicle from 2011 through 2013. Those documents showed the Crown Victoria passed inspection at Dufour Motor Sales Inc. on March 31, 2011, before Moran began using it; it failed on April 26, 2012, for front-end, parking-brake and lighting/reflector issues, also at Dufour; it passed May 3, 2012 at Dufour; and it passed on April 29 this year at Rivers Brothers Inc., resulting in its current inspection sticker.

Kearns said he was not aware of the inspection issue and that if it had been brought to the attention of the Police Department, it would have been addressed. Still, he feels that it's not the Police Department's duty to "hunt down" other departments, and that it should be the department head's responsibility to ensure all vehicles under his or her jurisdiction are safe and up-to-date with their inspections.

Kearns cares for the fleet of 45 vehicles the Police Department oversees, and said an uninspected car "would not fly" in his department.

"If that was here, if the car was not inspectable, it's coming off the road," he said.

Lanciani said the stickers had likely gone unnoticed by police because his employees are safe and courteous drivers.

Sara Lavoie, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said the Registry of Motor Vehicles regulates inspection stations, but that enforcement of the law is left to the police. She said the situation in Fitchburg is typically not something the department would be made aware of.

"The purpose of the annual inspection program is to assure that all vehicles on the road, including municipal vehicles, meet safety and emissions for the benefits of all roadway users," she said. "Any vehicle owner is subject to citation for having an expired inspection sticker."

Lanciani, who has worked for the city for three years, said he has asked for money each year to be set aside in the budget to fund new vehicles for his department, but has been told each time that the money is simply not available.

"We've been limping along with what we had," he said.

Lanciani said it is cost-prohibitive to maintain the Police Department's hand-me-down vehicles, which have been worn down considerably because of aggressive driving. He said he'd like to get four new vehicles for his inspectors, which he believes will last longer and be cheaper to maintain with only normal wear and tear.

Lanciani is asking for $100,000 for new vehicles in fiscal 2014. He said inspectors have the option to use their own vehicles, but have said that if they were to do so, they would not come in on overtime due to the fact that they receive, per union agreement, gas stipends at a per-week set rate rather than a per-mile reimbursement like the Board of Health inspectors, who use their own vehicles.

Mayor Lisa Wong said that avenue has been pursued and proved unsuccessful in recent union negotiations.

"We're doing the best we can," she said. "I hope we'll soon set aside funds for purchasing other new or used vehicles for the inspectors."

Funds are limited, however, Wong said, and the city will be facing some tough choices when it comes to replacing firefighter and police-officer retirements.

Lanciani suggested potentially raising building permit fees, which he said are some of the lowest in the region. DiNatale said free cash or even stabilization account funds could be an option.

Tran said the city needs to either find the funding or fix the process. Either way, he's still bothered by the situation.

"Whether they're city employees or not, if they're driving vehicles that are not safe, and deemed not safe by the Police Department and can't pass state inspection, you're breaking the law," he said. "If you can't do it, the city employees shouldn't be able to do it."

"There shouldn't be any special preference or treatments given to city employees," Tran added. "An ordinary citizen would be found liable for driving an uninspected vehicle."

Lanciani said his department has never asked for special treatment from law enforcement.

Paul D. Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said Friday that Fitchburg's situation is the result of challenges many municipalities face.

"This situation, in which cities and towns are constantly left with less cash, is due to the top-down, Boston-focused policies of the Legislature. Instead of voting in support of reform, which saves taxpayer money, like EBT reform, they constantly want more from taxpayers and give less to cities and towns," said Craney.

But that's no excuse for putting potentially unsafe vehicles on the road, he said.

"Fitchburg officials should play by the same rules taxpayers are expected to follow, and the Legislature should start funding the cities and towns instead of Boston bureaucracies," Craney said.

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